Blue and Gold Illustrated

Oct. 15, 2012 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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one. It's not based on the next great talent proto- type or revolutionary scheme. It's more bor- ing than that. Some of college football's best coaching staffs are tap- ping out of the Red Queen arms race of playbook innovations and choosing instead to focus strictly on the pro- cess. Brian Kelly and his C ollege football has a new buzz- word. The idea is hardly a novel coaches brought that philosophy to South Bend three seasons ago. As good as its star line- backer and its game plans have been, Notre Dame's defensive renais- sance during the first month of the 2012 sea- son is not a result of ei- ther of them. The results — top five nationally in turnover margin and scoring defense, and top 10 in sacks and pass ef- ficiency defense — aren't the goal for the Irish de- fense. Bowl games and championships aren't ei- ther. Wins, rankings and the impressive statistics that accompany them are byproducts, albeit pleas- BY DAN MURPHY ant ones for the Irish, of a methodical movement to improve. "We're measuring ourselves by the play- ers getting better every day. Those players are definitely getting better every day," defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said less than a week after keeping a second straight team out of the end zone in Notre Dame's 13-6 win over then-No. 18 Michigan. Diaco's comments are the epitome of coach- speak. They are dry, and they are dull and they have been repeated for three years like a looping GIF, the 21st century's version of an intention- ally broken record. But say them often enough and they start to come true. In its college football preview issue this Au- gust, Sports Illustrated featured Alabama head coach Nick Saban and his similar approach to building national cham- pionship teams one weight room rep and study hall session at a time, rather than setting lofty goals. Saban and his growing coaching tree around the country hold "the Process" so on because it works. Sa- ban's teams have won three of the last nine na- tional titles and he has the top-ranked team in the country again this fall. The Irish aren't in the same conversation yet, but they're fol- lowing a similar path. From the get-go, Kelly planned to start plotting his course with defense. sacrosanct that it garners a capital P. The idea is catching played a role. As Kelly said: "We're all much better coaches with bet- ter players." His staff has done Talent, of course, has GOING DEEP plenty to help them- selves by roping in top prospects along the de- fensive front such as sophomores Stephon Tuitt and Ishaq Wil- liams. The back halves of those first few recruiting classes have been just as important to the strong start to the season. Play- ers previously lost in the shuffle behind a short list of headliners have emerged to provide the extra layer to the Irish defense needed to earn the elite status it has. Building depth was the

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